Seven Circles
by xKanonymous
Summary: People tend to walk in circles in their lives. Always revolving, never caring about anything outside of what they know. Vices and virtues play their hand in it all, creating seven easy paths to destruction. So what's your number?
1. Prologue

**New storyyy. I'm gonna keep this little A/N short, but I really like the idea of this story. So don't steal it xD. I'm almost done with "Tsubaki no Seikatsu," so I thought I'd go ahead and put this out there. If you hate it, tell me. If you like it, you can tell me that too :). **

**The main idea in this story has been floating around in my head for like EVER. It feels so good to finally have it published on FFN. And now that my better half, Haruna, is leaving this account, I think I better step up to the plate. She was a wayyy better writer than me.**

**I give credit for helping me with this to my good friends LivLiv (OliviaLively) and Nikki (xAmuIkuto), so... this idea belongs to them too. I'll probably be drawing ideas from their minds a lot through this, so they deserve as much credit for creating this as I do. Go check them out; they're amazing! :D**

**-Kanon ;D**

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><p><strong>Seven Circles<strong>

_xXx::X::xXx_

**Prologue**

From birth, most children are taught the basics of life by their parents. Seven rules that they're to abide by in the world. Never be unkind, never be greedy, never have too much of anything, don't do anything naughty with anyone, don't be jealous, never hurt anyone, and never be lazy. Now, that may seem like a lot for a child to understand, but we're all born with something in us. Something natural that tells us what's right and what's wrong.

Still, as a child grows older, they begin to refer to these rules in a different way. Pride, greed, gluttony, lust, envy, wrath, and sloth. They start to become sins; roadmaps to destruction. But for every wrong there is a right.

And when wrong and right come together, there is never a happy ending. You see, people tend to walk in circles in their lives. All revolving around one thing, never even thinking to explore what else might've been in store for them. They walk in their circles, unaware of anything exterior, until the all the lines they'd created in their childhood, which existed to separate vices from virtues, have disappeared.

So this is where the story begins.

**Pride [**prah-yd]**: **_a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc_.

First on our list is pride. Pride will affect everyone _some _time in their life. However, how much you let it affect you is all in your hands. Pride reaches into even the most unreachable people. For instance, a little blonde girl whose parents' relationship is on the rocks. She tries to convince herself that she is better than that, swearing never to let love get a hold of her. So she puts herself up on a pedestal too high for anyone to reach.

The opposite of pride is, of course, humility. Humility is uncommon in most people, but the ones who let it in eventually find happiness. An example of humility is a certain purple-haired baseball-player who has the workings of a living doormat. He walks in his circle, going through the motions, until suddenly, he meets her. And so we'll call this the circle of pride.

**Greed [**greed]**: **_excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions._

Greed is unavoidable. We are _born _with greed on our minds. There are many examples of greed, but for this story, we'll focus on our youngest character, a little girl who is feeling left out by her boyfriend. Soon, she finds herself caught up in greed for his attention.

Her boyfriend, on the other hand, is a perfect illustration of generosity. He would do anything for her, and finds himself giving, while she is only taking. This is the circle of greed.

**Gluttony [**gluht-n-nee**]: **_the act or practice of eating and drinking to excess._

Gluttony is more common than you think. You could be the leanest person out of everyone you know, and still have a problem with gluttony. It doesn't necessarily mean 'fat'. For instance, in this story there is a young violinist, and there's nothing physically wrong with him. But emotionally, he is a mess. So he drowns himself in alcohol day in and day out.

The opposite of gluttony is temperance, or self-control. This young man's sister is our virtue of temperance. Distraught by seeing what her brother does, she despises what emotion has made of him. So she's made up her mind to cut herself off from her emotions, so she'll never have to put anyone through what her brother puts her through every day. But she became numb. And such is the circle of gluttony.

**Lust [**luhst**]: **_an uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness._

This same sister is the pinnacle of lust. To make up for what she now lacks emotionally, she lives in a constant affair with a boy she desperately wants to love, but is too afraid. She knows she'll never be able to pursue a relationship with him.

The virtue opposing lust is love, and this girl's lover is irrevocably infatuated with her. His grades are slowly slipping because he finds himself daydreaming of her, and he knows that everything he wants, she has. But he'll never get any of it because of the fear that she's allowed to envelope her. They are now entangled in the circle of lust.

**Envy [**en-vee**]: **_a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc._

Envy is much like greed, but greed for something someone else has. An example of envy would be a teenage boy, simply flawless otherwise, who rivals for his girlfriend's heart with her addiction. One wrong decision she made in her life created a rift in their relationship, forcing him to do all in his power to try to fix her.

The inverse of envy is contentment. Our little blondie from the pride circle is as content as she could be… or so she thinks. Like I said, people tend to be unaware of what exists right outside their little circle. But, for the moment, she's perfectly fine with her life. Despite her parents fighting, that is. Thus, the circle of envy is born.

**Wrath [**rahth**]: **_strong, stern, or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire._

Remember how we mentioned the girlfriend of the boy in our envy circle? Well, this is that girlfriend. She's the most careful creature you'd ever meet, tentative to always stay optimistic. But she's a tortured soul inside, and every once in a while, it seeps out through her addiction. Still, she's making an effort to get help.

Grace is forever the savior of wrath. This girl's boyfriend, despite his envy, is grace in a nutshell. He's always there to save her day, no matter what kind of corner she'd been backed into. He loved her in spite of her addition… and that was all she needed. In a sick way, the circle of wrath wasn't so bad.

**Sloth [**slawth**]: **_habitual disinclination to exertion; indolence; laziness._

Sloth is the product of many combined things. In this case, sloth is the product of a boy whose heart has been broken so many times by the world, that he just didn't care anymore. Yes, this is our purple-haired baseball-player from the pride circle. Here he plays a vice, displaying what kind of destruction an actual awareness of himself can create.

The reverse of sloth is spirit. Spirit is the character of our little greed symbol. However angry she may be, she makes an effort every day to put a smile on her face and get through everything. So here, we can easily see how she could be considered a symbol of spirit as well.

… And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where our circles meet.

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><p><strong>AN: Good grief, that was long for a prologue. Tell me what you think, please. It took about an hour or so for me to write this... I couldn't quite figure out how to make it interesting. I hope you thought it was interesting. Gosh, I always get so nervous when I upload new stories. What if you hate it? Don't hate it, please :).**

**-Kanon ;D**


	2. Letters

**Wow, it's been a long time. But I'm back in town. And this time I'm not leavin' without youuu~**

**JK, my laptop was broken. But my amazing dad came and fixed it. It's been almost sixty days, yikes. Sooo... here's the first chapter! I tried not to be too descriptive. Usually, my writing tediously describes EVERY single boring detail, but I didn't want this to be like that. I wanted this to be sort of mysterious, leaving a lot to the imagination. I hope it's okay.**

**-Kanon ;D**

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><p>✖ <strong>Seven Circles ✖<br>** _pride, greed, gluttony, lust, envy, wrath, sloth.  
><em>✖ **Chapter One ✖  
><strong>_Letters [not numbers].  
><em>✖

Crash.

It was just a sound. The sound of glass shattering, falling onto the floor in a million tiny pieces. The sound of a broken window. The sound of a baseball thumping against the hardwood floor. Then, the sound of silence, which echoed through the empty sitting room. But it wouldn't be empty for long.

The next sound was of light footsteps padding through the house. They belonged to a young teenager, who'd been left to house-sit while her parents worked that Saturday. She'd begged them not to leave her home alone, but it proved useless. And she knew why. The only reason her mother and father worked so much was so they wouldn't have to deal with each other.

Still, she grinded to a halt in the doorway of the sitting room. When she saw the scene before her, she ran a hand through her blonde curls, sighing miserably. _Broken window. Shards of glass. A baseball on the floor. _

**[pride]**

Barefoot, she slowly stepped into the room. She wasn't afraid of the glass, but she remained careful as she stepped over it. In the center of the mess was the baseball, which she leaned down to get, grasping it with her delicate hand. She could hear her parents voices in her head already. _"I told you we shouldn't have left Rima alone!" _and _"Don't blame this on me!"_.

She was sixteen years old. At a responsible age, but lacking all the responsibility. And Rima liked it that way. But now? Now she was in _so _much trouble. She straightened up, bringing the ball up to her face to examine it. It looked like it had been white at one point, but was now covered in dark scratches and bruises, creating a sort of grayish color. She turned it over in her hands, studying the red stitching in the sides, imagining all the trouble she was going to be in because of it. Rima clearly visualized the idiot middle-schooler who decided to smash his ball through her window, frowning.

"Thanks a lot, kid," she said out loud. Who would hear her? She was all alone.

Then came the knock on the front door.

Rima looked up. _What now? _she wondered impatiently. Her grip on the baseball tightened, as she turned away from the fragmented window. She had just been doing her science homework, and now all these interruptions? Uncalled for.

Treading lightly, Rima made her way back over the broken glass. The sunlight streaming in from the window cast her shadow in front of her, accompanying her every move back out into the hallway. Only as Rima was walking down the hallway did it occur to her that the person at the door might've been the Honorary Middle School Idiot. A smile curled her lip; she was doubly ready to let him have it. Down the hall, she thought of all the possible things she could say to him. None of them remotely kind, though.

Rima stepped down into the genka, baseball in hand, suddenly reminded how mad her parents were going to be when they found out about this. But not at her, even though they _would _punish her. No matter what happened, they'd be angrier at each other. Rima hated always being the one to commence their arguments.

The next few seconds were fairly uneventful. Rima, going against her mother's wishes (_"Don't open the door when we're not around."_), reached out to grasp the doorknob. Boring stuff. But when the door opened, she was kind of shocked.

Standing on her front porch was a complete non-middle-schooler. Instead, it was a boy who looked a little older than her. He was definitely taller. She looked him up and down; he was wearing faded jeans and a baseball jersey, with a cap pulled down over his long, purple hair. He had a bat in his hands.

**[humility]**

He was definitely her Idiot Non-Middle-Schooler.

"Hey," he greeted her, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Rima didn't want to hear it. She narrowed her eyes, extending his baseball towards him. "I think this is yours."

"Thanks," the boy replied, taking his ball back. "I'm sorry about your window. I'll pay for it."

"Good." Rima crossed her arms, continuing to analyze him. "You were out there playing by yourself?"

The boy sighed, shaking his head. "No. I was practicing with one of my friends, but he took off."

"That's some friend you got there," she replied curtly.

The baseball-player rolled his eyes. She noticed that they were the same color as her own. "I know," he agreed, sounding sort of irritated.

"Look." Rima frowned. "I don't have all day, so can we hurry this up?"

He grimaced in response. "Got somewhere to be?"

"It's none of your business," she snapped back. Actually, she wasn't lying. She had to get to work later, and she still had science homework that she hadn't finished.

"That's some mouth you have," the boy said, sounding smug. He held out his baseball for her to take back. "Here."

She shrunk back a little. "I don't need a souvenir. My parents'll beat you to it by grounding me."

"It's got my phone number on it," he explained. "Give me a call later so we can work this out, okay? I'm Fujisaki Nagihiko."

"Whatever." Rima shrugged. She reached out, closing her fingers around the baseball as he passed it back to her. She neglected to communicate her name to him. On purpose.

"So…" the boy, Nagihiko, wasn't quite sure what to say now. "… Later?"

"Yep." Rima nodded.

And so he began to turn away, taking his bat and leaving the Mashiro's porch. Rima didn't wait for him to be out of sight before she closed the door. Now it was just her, the baseball, and the shattered glass in the sitting room. She rolled it over in her hand, looking for his phone number. Sure enough, there it was, printed in letters rather than numbers. She wondered why, and how she hadn't seen it before.

But still, she didn't have time to worry about it. All she could do was clean up the glass, cover the hole in the window with the curtain, and pray that her parents wouldn't find out until she got back from work. Because if they did…

Well, let's not talk about that.

✖ **pride & greed ✖**

On the other side of town, there was a girl who was in a completely different situation. She laid in her bed at home, surrounded by hundreds of stuffed animals. Sometimes it felt as if these inanimate objects were the only ones she could count on. She frowned, holding her cell phone to her ear. Her boyfriend had called her, obviously, to cancel another date. The third one that week. He was always working. And it wasn't like she was asking for all his attention, but it would've been nice just to _see _him every once in a while. High school was tearing them apart.

"_I'm sorry," _he was telling her through the phone. She'd heard it all before. _"But someone called in sick, so I had to take their shift."_

She looked up at the ceiling, at the intricately detailed texturing. His words began to fade away in her ear, molding together until they sounded like one long, continuous apology. That's all he was to her anymore. One long, continuous apology.

**[greed]**

"Kairi," she mumbled, unsure whether she was cutting him off or not. "This is the third time. This week."

"_I know, Ace," _he replied. He always called her that.

She frowned, grabbing a nearby stuffed animal, which happened to be a duck. "Why don't you just quit?"

"_I can't, Yaya."_ Kairi was careful not to sound irritated, even though he was. _"I need this job. You know how great it'll look on my college application."_

Yaya rolled her eyes; she couldn't believe this. But why not? She'd been swallowing it ever since he started feeding it to her. Maybe she just couldn't believe herself. She was getting a little jealous. Of a job. Of a _noun_. She felt ridiculously stupid, and angry. Angry that he was making her feel this way.

"Yaya understands," she lies. She didn't understand at all. "You should get back to work. Don't bother to waste your time on your _girlfriend_."

There was a short pause. Yaya waited for him to digest it. Seconds seemed like minutes as she stared at the ceiling. She almost hung up on him.

"_Yaya," _he finally said. _"That's not what I'm trying to say. I just thought that-"_

She found herself nodding stupidly. "Yeah, totally. Good to know we're on the same page."

"_Ace, I-"_

"See you later, Class President." She took the phone away from her ear, pressing the button that ended their call. Part of her felt bad for hanging up on him, but not a very big part. The larger part of her mind congratulated her.

Setting her phone down on the bed beside her, she rolled to her left, towards her bedside table. On it sat a lamp, a digital clock, a notepad and pen. Yaya grabbed the notepad, sitting up so she could write. Taking the pen, she positioned it anxiously above the paper. She sighed; here she was again. For the third time that week.

_Dear Baby, _she wrote on the yellow page. _Grow up. _

✖ **pride & greed ✖**

Rima raced down the downtown sidewalk, in hot pursuit of her own employment. If she didn't get to work on time, she was in _big _trouble. And she was already a little late already. But she could see the library in front of her, getting bigger and bigger and she got closer. She could also see someone standing outside the library. Someone who looked vaguely familiar, and then more so once she came up on the building.

"Hey, Class President." She waved as she approached him.

**[generosity]**

Kairi Sanjo looked up, squinting in the sunlight. Rima stopped short when she saw the look on his face. He held his cell phone in his hand, open like he had been talking to someone.

"I was on the phone," he said, almost to himself. Rima couldn't tell whether he was talking to her or not.

But she kept talking to him anyway. "With your girlfriend?"

He blinked, like he was registering the sentence in his mind. And then he nodded, snapping his phone shut and stuffing it into his pocket. Rima watched and waited while he did these things.

"I thought your shift was over, Sanjo-kun?"

"It is," Kairi replied. "But Souma Kukai called in sick today, so I'm taking over his shift."

"Oh," she mumbled. "But… aren't we like, _forbidden _to take calls during shifts?"

"Well, it was an emergency."

"Dude." Rima cracked a little smile. "You're _so _whipped. But I'm glad you're here."

"Why…?" He cocked his head to the side.

"I need to tell you what happened to me today," she answered. "It has to do with this idiot baseball player…"

"I'm all ears."

And then they continued into the library, Rima beginning to retell the escapades of her morning. You see, there wasn't anyone in Seiyo quite like Kairi. He was an all-around good person. Good student, clever boy, excellent worker, and a prize-winning brother. To add to all these titles was the fact that Kairi was a good boyfriend.

Or at least he tried to be.

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><p><strong>AN: And now I have to respond to all the fabulous reviews I got on the prologue! Yayyyy!**

**Response to kitty13492: Why, thank you. It's nice to know that you do.**

**Response to En ar Ciel: Well, I don't know. I tried to make all my stories mysteries, no matter what genre they're "officially" in. It keeps your readers keen, you know? And it gives them a reason to review, and I _love _reviews. Ahaha, you'll know who's who very soon, and I'm pretty sure everyone will be surprised. I'm so excited for you to start helping meh out! Do you wanna start beta-ing from chapter two on, or do you want to wait some more? **

**Response to OliviaLively: Thank you, Livliv :D.**

**Response to strawberrygirl103: Ooooh, do you mean "Full Metal Alchemist"? I've always tried to watch that show, it seemes really cool. But I've never had the patience. -.- Actually, I didn't know it had anything to do with the seven deadly sins until I was doing some research for this story, and wikipedia happened to reference it. Oh yeah, and it was my intention to be really vague about who was who... but don't worry, it'll all be revealed very soon! :)**

**Response to xAmuIkuto: Thank you for reviewing! And thank you for helping me out with the idea! Hehe, I wouldn't really call this "soon", but I'll try better next time. ^^"**

**Response to M-fuzzTheGuardian: Thank you. And do you now? Well, we'll just have to see if you're right or not! **

**Response to ponyopwnsyou143: Well, it was basically Haruna's idea to delete all the stories. She wanted me to have a fresh start after she left. I kinda do miss "Shugo Chara! Hakken!" though, and I don't even have a back-up saved. Oh, well. I'll have to tamper with it later. Oh yes, this story concers ALL canon couples, but no crack-pairings, I don't think, unless Tadamu counts as a crack pairing (lol). **

**Response to zeldaxlove64: Awwww, thank you so much! And I'm sure you're writing will get better soon! When I started out, I was absolutely _terrible_, but it was my plots that captivated people. People that are still reading my stuff today. Sometimes I look back on my early work and get utterly embarrassed. But if you're better than I was, and I'm pretty sure you are, you'll be better than me later on! :D**

**Response to Evidence of Rain: Hehe, I think I knew some of them when I was little, but believe me, I had to do some major researching before I could even _draft _the prologue of this. Unfortunately, though, you are wrong about all your assumptions. Rima is none of the suggested. However, Yaya _is _the youngest character, which would automatically place in her in the greed slot. Thanks for the review, Rainy!**

**Response to Teh Frozen Yogurt Goddess: YESH! First review. You know, I used to be online friends with a FNN author who was always the first to review every story, every _chapter_, that I ever wrote. But then she dropped off the face of the earth... meh. And what's NaNoWriMo? Oh, and thank you :).**

**... Thanks for your excellent reviews every one! I appreciated each and every one of them! I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. **

**-Kanon ;D**


	3. Some Days

**Hey guys. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I DID.**

**Are you ready for 2012? I AM. **

**So, my fabulous beta-reader En ar Ciel finished beta-ing this chapter over the weekend, and I'm soooo happy! I hope you like this chapter, because I put a lot of work into it. Just for youuuuu guys. **

**-Kanon ;D**

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><p>✖ <strong>Seven Circles ✖<br>**_pride, greed, gluttony, lust, envy, wrath, sloth.  
><em>✖ **Chapter Two ✖  
><strong>_some days [and some days not].  
><em>✖

She jolted awake.

Sitting upright in bed, moaning miserably. Her wild eyes searched the room, looking for any sort of proof that it'd been just a dream. Another nightmare. That it _wasn't _real. Sunlight streamed in through a slit between the curtains, catching the dust particles that danced around in it. The rest of the room was dark, her being surrounded by the dim light. She shook her head despairingly, biting her lip so that she wouldn't cry. She knew exactly where she was. Looking to her right, she saw exactly what she expected to see.

**[lust]**

A young man, no older than herself, lying in bed next to her. He was fast asleep. She wished that he would wake up, so she could look into his emerald eyes and know that she was awake, and that she was alive. She didn't _feel _awake. She didn't _feel _alive.

She shivered a little, throwing the blanket off of her body, revealing that she was only wearing her underclothes. She couldn't remember anything from last night…but it wasn't like it mattered. She knew what had happened; they, the two of them, had been doing this for a while now. She just wanted to feel safe. That's all she wanted. But instead, she found herself feeling nothing. She desperately wanted to love him, and to know what it felt like to be loved by someone. Did he love her?

"_Utau," _he would often say. _"I don't know what I'd do without you."_

**[love]**

Was that love? How would she know? Utau brought her bare knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. Her blonde hair fell over them as she put her head down, unsure of what to do. Nothing made any sense anymore. She couldn't tell if she wasn't feel anything, or if she was feeling too many things at once. Well, she did know _one _thing...: that she was about to cry. What day was it, anyway?

But she couldn't let go. She couldn't cry, and let the world see her tears. She had someone to look after. Utau raised her head, staring absently into that shaft of light that streamed downwards. She had to take care of her brother. She _had _to, because he didn't have anyone else. Because _she_ didn't have anyone else. Because they had to stay together.

Utau swung her legs over the side of the bed, trying very hard not to stir the motionless body behind her. She searched the room for her clothes, unsure of where they might've fallen. Finally, she spotted a pair of jeans, which undoubtedly belonged to her. Carefully, she tiptoed across the room, towards the closet, looking back ever once in a while to make sure there weren't a pair of green eyes staring at her. As quietly as possible, she pulled the jeans over her legs, wincing at the noise once she had to zip up. She couldn't find her shirt anywhere. Maybe it was under the bed, but was it really worth the trouble to go back over there and risk waking him up?

_No, _she decided. She'd wear one of his. So she grabbed an oversized tee shirt that had been lying reasonably close to her on the floor, and pulled it over her head. She didn't need her shoes; he would bring them back to her later.

_Sorry, Kukai, _she apologized silently. She was all dressed and ready to go, so long as he didn't know she was going.

And so she proceeded to leave the apartment.

✖ **gluttony & lust ✖**

She got a lot of double-takes once she'd stepped out into the apartment complex's hallway. Especially in the elevator. So what, maybe she looked frumpy? Who wouldn't after what she'd one the night before? Although, bed-head and a shirt you could see the outline of her bra through probably didn't help. Still, Utau was thankful once she'd reached the fourth floor. She was the first to step out, barefooted, onto the familiar carpet of the floor she lived on. The people who'd ridden the elevator with her seemed to disappear, and she almost forgot the nasty looks they gave her. _Almost_. She practically skipped down the hall to apartment 4g, her blonde hair bouncing up and down. That is, until she bumped right smack into one of her neighbors.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated as she bent down to help him pick up his things. But then she looked up and saw who it was. "… _Oh_."

Standing before her was none other than Sanjo Kairi from apartment 4h, who lived across from her. Condescending Kairi who was always judging her and her brother. Judgmental Kairi who was now looking her up and down in disdain. Utau straightened up, taking a step back. There was no way she was going to help _him _with anything.

"Hello, Sanjo-san," she said mechanically, almost coldly.

Kairi finished gathering his things without a word, standing up straight with that look in his eye that she hated. He fixed his glasses, which concealed grey eyes. She noticed that they looked kind of baggy, like he was stressed or something. "Hello," he replied.

Utau didn't quite know what to say now. "Looks like you've… had… a rough day."

"… Yeah," he answered, sounding just a little bit human. It surprised her. "You could say that."

"Well." She nodded her head. "I… hope the rest of your day goes… well."

They then slightly dipped their heads politely, and then shuffled around each other to get to their doors. Now with her back to him, Utau sighed, grateful that their little exchange was over. She tried _so _hard to avoid him. But obviously some of her attempts were in vain. Blinking rapidly, she dug her hand into her pocket, searching for her key. When she found it, she continued to go through the motions, putting the key into the lock and turning it left, then turning the knob right, then pushing the door open. All boring stuff.

Inside, the apartment looked like it always did. Same furniture, same plain white walls, same beer bottle on the coffee table. Utau sighed; it was about to start again. This happened more or less every day, and by now she was used to it. Some days it was okay, some days it was not. But it was never, _ever _alright.

"Ikuto?" she called out, loud enough that she was pretty sure Kairi would be able to hear her. No response, though. This was bad.

Without a word, Utau dropped her key, dashing off deeper into the apartment. She checked every room, every closet, and both bathrooms. Her heart was pounding. What if something had happened to him? Well, it wouldn't be the first time. But it would still be pretty scary. Living with Tsukiyomi Ikuto was much like living alone, most of the time. But Utau didn't mind. She just needed to know that he was okay.

Finally, she skidded to a halt in the doorway of his room. She hated going in there, but there he was. The smell of alcohol wafted out so strongly that she almost choked on it. Never would she go anywhere near it. But anyway, Ikuto stood, looking pretty much okay (physically, anyway), in the center of his room with his back turned to her. His violin was out, laying on the floor next to its case, while he was busy taking swigs of whatever it was that she smelled. His dark hair was a mess.

**[gluttony]**

Utau silently stepped into the room, neglecting to utter any sort of greeting. Gingerly, she inspected him as she came closer. Now she could see what he was doing. Tacked up onto the wall were several sheets of paper, which he was busy writing music onto, between every sip of alcohol he took. Utau approached him warily, inspecting the notes from her position. Now, she was no musical genius, but from what she could tell, the song was beautiful.

Now she was right behind him. Raising her hands carefully, she placed them on his shoulders, checking for any unseen cuts or bruises. It was then that he noticed her behind him.

"You're back," he murmured absently.

"Mhm." She nodded, running her hands down his back, making sure that he wasn't hiding any scars. Ikuto was famous for hiding things.

He pulled away from her, stepping back towards the wall to write down another note. He didn't ask her where she'd been; secrets were respected within those walls.

"Working on a new piece," he said instead.

Utau nodded. "I know. I bet it sounds better than it looks."

He chuckled. "It ought to."

She was just a little annoyed. They did this almost every day. Yet, each time, it seemed like he was getting more and more agitated, like when he'd just pulled away from her. What did _he _have to be agitated about?

Utau closed the gap between them again. She put her hand back on his shoulder, but just the right shoulder. This time, though, she squeezed. And it obviously hurt him, judging by the way he pulled away from her touch. She narrowed her eyes; there was a bruise there. Probably from him pressing his violin there, undoubtedly too hard.

"You need to stop this," she told him.

Ikuto turned to her. His sapphire eyes were bloodshot, a dead giveaway to how drunk he was. He was getting so good at being wasted that it was hard for Utau to tell sometimes. But his eyes broke her heart.

**[temperance]**

When he didn't reply, she continued. "I can't watch you do this to yourself."

"I'm fine," he answered.

She then grabbed for the bottle in his hand. She was tired of seeing him drinking. "No, you're not. I -"

"I'm fine!" he hissed, his voice low and menacing. Ikuto pulled away from her, spilling some of his drink onto the carpet.

She narrowed her eyes angrily. "You're always wasted."

He smirked, looking fully aware of what he was about to say. "I'm not the only one getting wasted."

Utau felt her face turn red. Looking down, she crossed her arms over her chest, covering the visible outline of her bra underneath Kukai's shirt. She knew exactly what Ikuto meant. And she couldn't _believe_ him.

"Th-That's none of your business."

Now, they'd had their fights before, but never had he acted this way. She wanted it to scare her, to frighten her, to make her feel like she shouldn't be subjected to it. But she couldn't make herself feel that way. Instead, she just felt tired. Overwhelmed, perhaps, as she stood there. Suddenly, collapsing onto the floor in a sleeping heap sounded like a good idea.

"Get help, Ikuto," she said now, her voice dripping with exhaustion. "Go back to rehab." When he looked like he was about to say no, she continued. "Do something. Get out of here."

Ikuto narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Where am I supposed to -?"

"Just go." She pointed towards the doorway. "Just… go."

He could take a hint. No matter how drunk he was, he knew when he'd gone too far. And just now, he'd crossed the line. Utau's feelings were officially hurt. Leaning down, he put his violin in it's case and closed it firmly shut. He slung it over his shoulder with the strap, and took one good, long look at his sister.

Her sapphire eyes were set on her bare feet, and her blonde hair (which was usually up in ponytails) was falling all around her. He couldn't see her face… it hurt him.

But never-the-less, he took himself and stumbled out of the room, not saying another word. Utau, on the other hand, wanted to tell him that he shouldn't drive, and that she was just kidding, and that he should stay and let her take care of him. But she didn't.

And she pretended not to hear the door slam as he exited the apartment.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Onto the review responses~ cheers! :)**

**Response to En ar Ciel: Thank you so much. And also, thank you for your help. Yeahhh, I don't really like Kairi as a Shugo Chara character. Unlike all the other characters, who have depth and a ribbon of personalities to pull from, he has next to nothing. Which was why I figured he'd only be fitting as generosity, in relationship to Yaya's greed. But I'm glad you like the way I wrote him. XD**

**Response to Teh Frozen Yogurt Goddess: Well, Nagi's past is gonna be quite surprising in this story. Maybe he'll act a bit OOC sometimes here, but... I'll... I'll make it work :). Oh, I think I _will _do NaNoWriMo next year... sounds so interesting. And thank you.**

**Response to Evidence of Rain: Ohhhh, well then you would've been right. Congrats! :D And thank you. Trust me, I've been on this site for a while, so I've had some time to develope my own style... when I first started out, I was TERRIBLE. Like, heart-breakingly so. Two and a half pages about a shower? That's quite impressive. I can never find the right balance for descriptions; I'm either too vague or too repetitive and overbearing with my detail. Yaya is the most relatable? Okay.**

**Response to xAmuIkuto: Heyyy, gurl. Yeah, and I've updated AGAIN (crowd cheers). I agree, it gets me down when I have to write that one of the characters are feeling down. It's depressing. A year wait for a chapter? THOSE EXISTTT? DX**

**Response to Chocolate covered charas: I guess I should've said this before. Haruna left because she's very busy, with school and everything. She wanted to focus on her grades, since she's now only a year and a half away from college. I can't believe she's gone, though. It's kinda lonely. )':**

**Response to xxShakespeareSecretxx: Why, thank you! :)**

**... Second chapter up! I feel so accomplished... but I'm SOOOOO tired. I guess it's time to go start on the third chapter, though... don't wanna keep you guys waiting. ^^"**

**-Kanon ;D**


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